Four Winds hat The Four Winds hat (in

Northern Sami Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

''čiehgahpir'') is one version of traditional man's

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

of the

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

. The basis is a simple blue cylinder, decorated with a band with braid patterns, but the top is a large, four-cornered star, colored bright blue with parts bright red and yellow. The decoration in an actual Sami hat is, like the rest of the Sami garb, indicative of the person's place of origin or even his clan or marital status, much like the Scottish

tartan Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...

Description

The hat is four-cornered to represent the four corners of the earth, which the early

Sámi The Sámi ( ; also spelled Sami or Saami) are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting the region of Sápmi (formerly known as Lapland), which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Murmansk Oblast, Ru ...

believed to be square. Traditionally, the hat was blue to represent the sky and had white, yellow, or red trim. The corners were stuffed with down for warmth and to allow the hat to keep its shape. Small items could also be stored in the corners of the hat.

History

The hat was originally based on a Russian pattern learned in contact with Russians on the coast of the Barents Sea, but the top was exaggerated and the hat decorated with the traditional bright-colored embroidery to produce the Four Winds hat. Today, the hat is a common souvenir for visitor to the Laplands, which scholar Maaria Niskala cites as an example of how Sáminess is othered in promotional tourism materials.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Winds Hat Sámi clothing Headgear Hats